Telephone-switchboard.



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AEXANDE-R M. HAUBRlCH, OF GHICAC-K), ILLINOIS. ASSlG-NOR TO srnonense-ozgntson TELEPHON li] MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

," .Specieation of Letters Patent.

msuiirorieonnn.

Patented Aug. 14, 1906.

Application tiled .lpril 1.1904. Serial No. 201.030.

I0V @ZZ whom it in/(ty con/cern,.-

it known that l, ALEXANDER M. Het'- nnien, a citizen ot the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of illinois, have invented a certain new `and useful iniproven'ient iii Telephone- Switcliboards, 01"' which the following is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description, refer* ence being had to the accompanying' drawa part oit this specification.

n; f invention relates to telephone-switchboards and its object is to provide i'neans for at all tiines indicating to the central-eirchange attendants the condition of the tele phone-lines or the substations and instrunients connected therewith.

ln the prior art when a calling subscriber requested` a rconnection with another subscriber iii order to asceitainwhether or not the called subscriber could be obtained it was necessary Vlor the operator to insert a calling plug` into the called line, then to ringr over the line, and then to watch for the supervisory signal to indicate whether or not the called subscriber had answered. li", unknown to the operator, the called line was out oi service or the instrument at the substation was detective and unserviceable, or il for any other reason the desired subscriber could not be reached a great loss of time resulted both to the operator and the calling subscriber.

dy invention enables ine to obviate this loss oi tinie, and it providesindica tingr ineens u hereby the operator niay at a glance ascertain wl'iether or not the called subscriber is obtainable, and it the called subscriber cannot be reached she can at once notify the callingV .subscriber thereof. .l provide pins having diiicrent-colorcd heads adaptcd'for insertion, preferably about or in close, proximity to the linefjacliseach4 color -corresponding to a certain operative condition oi the line or substation or instrument connected with a line, this being very useful iii connection with. party-lines to indicate the condition oi each substation or instrument connected with a party-line.

'llie accompanying drawings will more clearly ill ustrate niy invention, in which-M Figure l shows airont view ot jack-baiils lfig. 2 shows a top view of one ot these banks. Fig. 3 shows a inodilied application of' my invention to a multiple-jack switchboard. Fig.

For this purpose l is an enlarged sectional view througrhthe front support of a jack-bank, taken on line l 4 of Fig. l and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken online 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Like reference characters relier to like parts in the various ligures.

The jack-banks iiiayV be of any construction, and l haveshown the banks to consist of a 'front su )port 1 and a rear support 2, united by en plates 3 3. The front support is provided with jack-openings 4 4, lined with jack-thiinbles 5 5, which may be held in place by pins 6 6, while the rear support carries the ack-springs 7 7. A

l provide a series of apertures or drill-holes 8 8, adapted for the reception of pins 9 9. rlfhese holes may be of any nu inber and may be disposed about the jack-openings in any arrangement, and inay extend entirely through the support 1 toprovide an easy means for removing the pins therefrom. 4The heads of the pins may also be countersunk to bring their front faces Hush with the Jface of' the bank.

ln Fig. l I have shown four holes disposed diagonally opposite about each jack-opening, and this arrangement iiiay be used where there is suflicient space about the opening to perniitof the insertion of the pins. Where the jack-openings are crowded closer togetheras, for instance, on a iiiultiple-jack board-l prefer to provide separate strips 1() 10, adapt,- ed to be sandwiched between the jack-strips 11 ll, each of .the strips 10 being drilled with series of holes corresponding to the jack-opening either directly above or below it. The pins 9 preferably consist of a shank portion 12 for entering the openings 8 and of a head 13. Different heads may be provided with different colors, which .may be painted or enameled thereon, or colored paper or other material may be secured to the heads.v

ln Fig. 1 at jack No. 8 l have shown a diierent-colored'pin inserted in each of the four openings disposed about said jackfopening. T his jack may be the terniinationof a party-line having four substationsand instru- .I 00' ments connected therewith." Tl'ieopenirig' corresponding to substation or instrument No. l onthe party-line is shown as provided f with av green-colored pin, while the openings correspondingto substations 2, 3, and '4 are shown as provided, respectively, with a red,

lessees blaelr, and a white pin. The white pin may indicate to the operator that the instrument at substation 3 is serviceable. The green pin ma)r indicate to her that the instrument at substation l has been. removed for repairs. The red pin may indicate to her that the instrument at substation 2 is defeetive and not serviceable7 and the black pin may indicate to her that the subscriber at substation L will not be obtainable for a length ol! time. Also where a single subscriber-line is connected with a jack a certain-eolored pin migl'lt mean that the line is out ot' order or undergoing repairs,v and so on any eolor 'may indieate to the operator a certain operative condition of' the line, substation7 or instrun'ient, and the station attendants are at all times enabled to give d ireet in formation to a calling;r subscriber without loss of time, and as the conditions change pins of dii'lerent colors may be insorted I. do not wish to limit the adaptation ol in v invention to the teleplione art as shown, as it will be equally useful in telegraph)v or in any other art where it is desired to have in li cation at al-l times olE the operative rendition of substations and the apparatus thereat. Change may also be readily made in the eonstruction and application of the invention without departing Jfrom the spirit thereof.

I elaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I n a. telephone-exchange system the oombination with a switchboard provided with a plurality of jael{-banks, of strips interposed between the jack-banks, jack-openings in the jack-banks, a set of four apertures 8 above eaeh jack-opening in the strip, each aperture corresponding` to one of the substations connected withthe line leadingto the jack-springs to the rear ofthe Corresponding' jack-opening, and pins 9 adapted for interchangeable insertion in said apertures, said pins having different-Colored heads, each eolor representing one of the substations eonneeted with the line.

ln witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th day ol' Marchy A. D. 1904.

ALEXANDER M. llAUBltIC/H. Witnesses (.nixmacs J. SCHMIDT, llAuvnY li. llANsoN. 

